Welded truck bolster



Dec. 31, .1940. c. F. wALP WELDED TRUCK BOLSTER f Filed April 2l, 1938 lNvEN'OR s 4v ATTORNEY rie Patented Dec 3l, 19.40

UNITED STATES 2,226,678 WELDED TRUCK oLs'rER Charles F. Walp, Berwick, Pa., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 21, 1938, Serial'No. 203,236l

8 Claims.

This invention relates to holsters ln general and in particular to truck bolsters of the fabricated type which may be welded together into a unitary structure.

Bolsters as constructed in the past Vhave been cast in one piece, although a few attempts have been made to form welded holsters but without any particular success since they were either extremely hard to fabricate or were exceedingly l0 expensive.

It is an object, therefore, of thepresent invention to provide a bolster construction which avoids the use of expensive dies and excessive welding.

A further object of the invention is the pro-V vision of a bolster so formed of pressed parts as to eliminate any deep drawing4 of the metal with the consequent excessivedistortion and weakening thereof.

A still further object of the yinvention is the provision of a welded bolster having compara tively heavy section top and bottom chords connected by a central web plate formed of much thinner metal thus permitting the construction of a light weight bolster.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the welded bolster;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the bolster, onehalf being broken away substantially at the longitudinal center line in order to more clearly disclose the unitary construction; j

Fig. 3 is an end view of the completed bolster,

and

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it is seen that the bolster is formed with a top' cover plate 2 of approximately channel form, extending substantially in a straight line from end to end of the bolster and formed with a. substantially flat web portion 4 and downwardly directed anges B. As clearly shown in the drawing the web portion is pressed with lightening openings 8 on either side of the transverse center'and with and openingl I0 at the center thereof to receive the king pin, which is not shown.` The flanges 6 of this top cover plate are cut away any desired .amount as at I2 in order that the end portions .'of the top cover plate may be suficiently'deep, while the central portion of the flanges is only of suicient depth to give the requisite strength. The bottom cover plate I4 is also of approximately channel cross section having substantially` (Cl. 10s-226)' constant depth upwardly directed flanges I6 joined together by a horizontal-web portion I8. This bottom cover plate is pressed so as to have substantially horizontal end portions 2l) joined together by a downwardly curved. central portion 22. The flanges 6 and I6 of the topand bottom'cover plates are directlyjoined together adjacent the ends of the bolster as at 24; while the intermediate portions are joined together by means of the web plate 26 continuously welded to rhe flanges 6 and I6 as at 28.

The bolster is reinforced adjacent thexcenter thereof by the center bearing reinforcement means 30 which in the present instance is shown as formed by shortl sections of rolled I-beams 15 with one pair of flanges 32 directly welded to the top cover plate and with the web 34 welded to the ilanges 6 and web plate 26 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. In order to tie the webs 34 together and at the same time form a support for the 20 lower end of the king pin a bar 36 is welded to Ithe webs of the adjacent center bearing' reinforcing I-beams. In order to reinforce the bolster beneath each side bearing short sections of rolled I-beam are utilized having one pair of 25 flanges 38 and a portion of the web welded to the top cover plate, `While the remainder of the web MJ is securely welded to the web platel 26. Th" ends of the bolster are reinforced adjacent the spring bearing portions by inner and outer rec- 30 tangular plates 42 and 44 respectively, the former being securely Welded on either side to the top cover plate and upon at leart one side to the bottom cover plate, while the latter is similarly Welded or, as shown in Fig'.- 2, is welded only upon one 35 side to the top and bottom cover plates. The bolster when completed will, of course, have,` the customary column guides and side bearings ai- 'tached thereto in any suitable manner, such as welding, and will also be provided with tne (ustomary center bearing, the latter refting upon l the top cover plate and beingv secured thereto wthportions of the side edges secured to angle members 46 welded to the top cover plate and extending the Width of the bolster adjacent the 45 now be placed in position and securely welded along the edges of the anges l5 to the web plate '26 and flanges t of the top cover plate after which portions of the plates l2 may be welded to the web and anges of the bottom cover plate by 'reaching in through the ends of the bolster. With the plates l2 securely welded in position the plates M may be inserted and welded completely around their edges to the webs and anges of the top and bottom cover plates.

With the bolster constructed as shown and described it will be seen that an extremely `light and strong construction has been provided with the metal distributed to far better advantage than is possible with castings or with the fabricated holsters as previously constructed.

While the bolster has been described more or less in detail, it is obvious that various modifications and rearrangements of parts will be apparent to persons skilled in the art and all such modifications and rearrangements are contemplated as fall within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A welded bolster comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel crosssection having the anges thereof directed downwardly, web plates welded to the central por- Y tions of said flanges and in the planes thereof,

bracing means projecting below the lower` edge of said web plates and welded to said top cover plate and web plates to stiften the same, and a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section having substantially uniform depth flanges directed upwardly and welded to the web plates and overlapping a portion of said bracing means, said cover plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the flanges of the top and bottom cover plates to be welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates, said web plates being of an average thickness less than the average thickness of the cover plates whereby the bolster is materially lightened.

2. A welded bolster comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel crosssection with the flanges directed downwardly, web plates welded to the central portions of said flanges and in the planes thereof, bracing means welded only to said top cover plate and web plates to stillen the same, a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the flanges directed upwardly and welded to the web plates and enclosing said bracing means, and additional bracing means enclosed by and welded to said top and bottom cover plates outwardly of the web plates, said cover plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the ilanges of the top and bottom cover plates to be welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates.

3. A bolster comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with varying depth ilanges directed downwardly, web' plates secured to said ilanges'in the area of least depth, bracing means secured to the top cover plate and web plates to stiften the same, and a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with substantially uniform depth ilanges directed upwardly and secured to the web plates and overlappingthe lower portion of said bracing means, said cover plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the flanges of the top and bottom'cover plates to be secured directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates.

4. A welded bolster comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the flanges directed downwardly. web plates welded to the central portions of said flanges and in the planes thereof, center and side bearing bracing means welded to said top cover plate and web plates to connect and stillen the same, a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the flanges directed upwardly and welded to the web plates and enclosing said bracing means, and spring bearing bracing means enclosed by and welded to said top and bottom cover plates outwardly of the web plates, said cover` plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the flanges of the top and bottom cover plates to be welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates.

5. A welded bolster comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the anges directed downwardly, web plates welded to the central portions of said ilanges and in the planes thereof, bracing means of I-beam cross-section welded to said top cover plate and web plates to stillen the same, a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the flanges directed upwardly and welded to the web plates and enclosing said bracing means, and plate metal bracing means enclosed by and welded to said top and bottom cover plates outwardly of the web plates, said cover plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the ilanges of the top and bottom cover plates tovbe welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates. e

6. A welded bolster comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the flanges directed downwardly, web plates welded to the central portions of said ilanges and in the planes thereof, bracing .means of I'beam cross-section with the web disposed substantially vertical and welded to said top cover plate and web plates to stillen the same, a bottom cover plate of approximately Vchannel cross-section with the ilanges directed upwardly andvwelded to the web plates and enclosing the lower ends of said I-beamA bracing means, and a plurality of plate metal bracing means at either end of the bolster enclosed by and welded to said top and bottom cover plates outwardly of the web plates. said cover plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the ilanges ,of the top and bottom cover plates to be welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates.

'I'. A welded bolster comprising in part, an.upper cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the anges thereof directed downwardly,

'web plates welded to the central portions ,of said flanges and'in the planes thereof, bracing' means positioned wholly within said bolster adjacent the center and side bearing portions thereof and welded to said top cover plate and web plates to stillen the same, a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section having ilanges directed upwardly and welded to the lower edges-of said web plates and overlapping a portion of said bracing means, and additional bracing means `positioned within the bolster and welded to said top and bottom cover plates laterally outward of the web plates, said cover plates and web plates being so formed and .arranged as to permit the nanges of the top and bottom cover plates to be welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster and outwardly of the web plates,

8. A welded bolster-comprising in part, an upper cover plate of approximately channel cross-sec; f/

tion with the anges directed downwardly,l web plates welded to the central portions of said flanges and in the planes thereof, bracing means of I- beam crosssection welded to said/top cover plate and web plates to stiiIen the's'ame', said bracing meansprojecting below/the lower edge of said web plates, a bottom cover plate of approximately channel cross-section with the flanges directed outwardly of the web plates, said cover plates and web plates being so formed and arranged as to permit the anges of the top and bottom cover plates to be welded directly to each other adjacent the ends of the bolster outwardly of the web plates.

CHARLES F. WALP. 

